Too many Americans have been forced to buy health care that costs more than they can afford – thanks to the “Affordable” Care Act. Some are opting to pay for doctor’s visits out of pocket and foot the bill for the Obamacare mandate penalty to save money.

“Welcome to the beautiful health care designed by our government,” Glenn said. “In 2016, 6.5 million of us here in this country in order to comply with the individual mandate in Obamacare decided just to pay the penalty instead of buying health care.”

GLENN: Susan had a decision to make. It’s a decision that millions of Americans are making. She could buy health care for her and her husband or not. It was a difficult decision because both options would hurt them financially. She calculated she would have to spend more than $12,000, including premiums of nearly $500 a month and a 6,850-dollar deductible, to get anything beyond preventive benefits from the cheapest exchange plan available through the, quote, Affordable Care Act. It wasn’t affordable for her.

That was a great deal more than paying the 1,500-dollar tax penalty. So Susan decided to take her chance and not buy health care. Instead, she would pay for her family’s doctor visits out of pocket. And if something catastrophic were to happen, she said, I feel like it’s just better to die. Welcome to the beautiful health care designed by our government.

Maybe a little dramatic, but Susan’s situation is not unique. In 2016, 16.5 million of us, here in this country, in order to comply with the individual mandate in Obamacare, decided just to pay the penalty instead of buying health care.

That’s craziness. The individual mandate has been unconstitutional. It’s a nightmare since it was signed into law. But today, there is hope that we can forget this whole mandate fever dream for good.

The Senate Republicans have add the repeal of the individual mandate to their tax reform plan, which is a step in the right direction.

But will they do it, and will everybody vote for it in the Senate? Here’s the one rule of thumb they really need to know: stopping unconstitutional laws and not starting new unconstitutional laws. Pretty good rule of thumb for this administration.